Barbershopping: The Four Corners Harmony Chorus

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My first barbershop experiences in New Mexico were rocky at best. The San Juan Chapter of SPEBSQSA was small, with maybe a dozen guys showing up on a good night. They didn't really have a permanent director. Some weeks, Amy Barrett (who directed the Durango Narrow Gauge Chorus) would run rehearsal. Other weeks, it would be another member. Because of my new job responsibilities, I could only rehearse sporadically. In fact, I had to miss the first couple of concerts because they were scheduled when I had to be out of town on business.

Things changed—for me and for the chorus—in May or June of 2003. One night, none of the usual suspects showed up to run rehearsals, so I was asked to fill in. (Dr. Pete Peterson, who had been directing the group off and on, was still laid up after heart surgery.) I went through some of our repertoire, and did some pole cats. Robin Harris, the chapter president, asked me if I'd rehearse the group for the next couple of weeks. Eventually we agreed that I would lead the group through the summer, until the board was able to find a new director.

When labor day had come and gone, I was still waving my arms in front of the group. I asked Robin how his search was coming. He smiled and clapped me on the back and said, "We've found him—he's you."

In September, we began planning for the annual Christmas concert. The music has already been chosen—by the Durango chapter. For the past several years, the Farmington chorus had been operating as a "sister chorus" of the Durango Narrow Gauge Chorus. Both choruses had been rehearsing the same music, and performed together in both Farmington and Durango. I have to admit that I didn't like at least half of the Christmas repertoire that had been picked by Durango's music committee. But we went ahead and went with the plan.

In November, I went with several of the board members from Farmington up to Denver to attend the Rocky Mountain District's Chapter Officer's Training School (COTS). I went specifically to attend a Chorus Director's Workshop-Intensive (CDWI) course given by Bill Rashleigh and Rod Sgrignoli. It was refreshing to get to meet with other guys who directed small choruses. We laughed, we cried—well, not really, but we shared some common experiences.

Viva la Revolucion!

A pivotal moment for me came when Rashleigh was asking us about our choruses. I was trying to describe my group for him, and said we were "a developing chorus." When Rashleigh told me that every chorus is a developing chorus, I replied (without thinking), "No, we're a developing chorus like a developing nation. Okay, we're a third world chorus." They all thought that was pretty funny, but as I was talking to one of the other directors, I finally realized that we had to start refusing the "foreign aid" from the Durango chapter and start standing on our own. The COTS weekend then turned into a time for me to talk with the other officers from Farmington, and begin formulating a strategy for revamping our little chorus.

We continued planning "The Revolution" during our 8-hour drive back to Farmington. When I got home, I wrote a proposal outlining the steps I would like to take to ensure the Farmington chorus' survival. You can read my proposal here.

Our Christmas concert was the last one with "apron strings attached." Amy Barrett directed the concert in Durango, and I ran the concert in Farmington. Right after Christmas, we began work on music for our Spring show, which was a huge success. Dozens of people told me, after our concert in late May, that it was probably the best performance the Farmington chorus had done in years and years.

Of course, it was just after this, in July of 2004, that the company I worked for was purchased and I was asked to join the "marketing team" at the new parent company's headquarters in Winamac, Indiana. Although it took me from the chorus I had come to think of as "my chorus," it also gave me the chance to get to know another great chorus, and another great group of people.

Images:

	The little Farmington chorus that could, directed by Yours Truly		For our spring concert, I was asked to sing lead with Penultimate Chance, an established Farmington quartet
	Ian asked if he could join in on the last number, and he learned the tenor part so he could sing with us

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